SwitchPoint
Make Your Good Ideas Make a Difference.
My brain is reeling. What I’m imagining are the myriad ways in which the ideas and people brought together at SwitchPoint might combine, collaborate and go forth into the world. The innumerable potential combinations, inspirations, inventions; time saved by sharing tools and avoiding redundancy, frustrations reduced by lessons learned, adrenaline increased by virtue of the pure drive and passion and commitment of so many to make good ideas stick, scale and make a difference.
Maybe Phaedra Boinodiris can help us make a game where we shuffle SwitchPoint speakers into combinations of 2s, 3s and 4s and imagine what kinds of world changing creations they could make together.
Kate Chapman + Godi Godar + Aaron Sherinian + Patty Mechael = Open mapping of the preservation of millions of hectares of rainforest above minerals for mobile phones supported by the mHealth community and broadcast ‘round the world by an army of #socialgood campaign tweeters.
Jaspal Sandhu + Krishna Udayakumar + Laboni Jana + Sename Koffi = Humanitarian design exchange projects built by local innovators and social entrepreneurs in partnership with local innovation hubs like Woelab.
SwitchPoint Student Contest Winners + 3D Printer made from eWaste + John Crowley = Resilient planning for locally sourced responsive solutions for disaster relief and affordable medical supplies.
We witnessed what happens when Beat Making Lab, Paperhand Puppet Intervention and The Sacrificial Poets came together. Now imagine that combined with art, data visualization and design from all over the world to express ideas, open minds and teach people.
And who knows what those of you not on stage but in the audience, or those of you reading this might come up with. I know the Speakers were seriously impressed with the level of conversation and ideas in the many Microlabs across SwitchPoint where participants were building, planning, mapping, designing and thinking together.
The possibilities are endless if we keep seeking to make connections and that is what SwitchPoint is all about.
Microlabs covered Artivism, Hacking, DIY, Partnerships, Unexpected Entrepreneurs, Tech For Good, Media & Communications, Campaigns, Measurement, Mapping, Spying, Security, Design, Development, Health, Environment, Resilience, Data, Collaboration, Robots, & Gamification.
Christine Sow of the Global Health Council said the breadth of ideas and diverse disciplines at SwitchPoint was like a first try at a challenging yoga position. It can be uncomfortable; it makes you stretch — hard; and then you realize it’s good for you.
Aaron Sherinian of the UN Foundation called this meeting of bright thinkers and entrepreneurs from multiple industries brought together to innovate and collaborate on solutions to critical issues in a tiny mill village down by the riverside SAXAPOWERFUL.
Clive Thompson of WIRED and The New York Times and Ken Banks of FrontlineSMS both focused, in their own ways, on the power of the crowd, the power of the people, who, with the right tools to share their ideas and the gumption to make a much needed solution, could take ideas farther forward, faster while making them relevant and responsive to real needs on the ground.
Jorge Odon brought the point home that it is not enough to have a great idea, or to make even the most brilliant invention; you have to have the tenacity to make that idea real no matter the skeptics, the disbelievers and the difficulties.
Corporate leaders Michael Bzdak, Paurvi Bhatt and Oonagh Puglisi talked about sustainable partnerships and engagement across sectors and encouraged idea makers seeking funding and sustainable partnerships to look for what values you truly share when seeking support.
These are just a few of the incredible Speakers and only a glimpse of the conversation over the course of this past week. Learn more about all of the Speakers here. We’ll be releasing podcasts of all of the main stage talks and overview clips of the microlabs and performances as soon as they are available. Stay tuned to The SwitchPoint Reader — a digital magazine and search engine for the SwitchPoint community and watch the SwitchPoint event site for updates. There are Twitter Lists of the Speakers over the years, and Instagram, Eventifier and keep using the hashtag #SwitchPoint . We will be paying attention. Submit your ideas, connection requests and ideas for Speakers for next year. Keep us posted on the connections and SwitchPoints you are making. Huge thanks to all involved in building and sustaining this incredible community and especially to IntraHealth International for producing SwitchPoint and bringing us together.
